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Public school board could lose 44 high school teachers, says union

Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation says the jobs will be lost over four years due to the province's increasing class sizes
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NEWS RELEASE
ONTARIO SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS' FEDERATION
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Algoma District School Board will lose 44 high school teachers over the next four years as a result of larger class sizes, according to report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).

Behind the Numbers recently released an interactive map based on this report that outlines the impact these changes will have across the province, allowing users to view the loss of teachers predicted for individual school boards.

Viewers can see that some Ontario school boards will lose upwards of hundreds of high school teachers.

“This loss of 44 teachers represents a huge negative impact on the quality of education our students will have in the future,” says John Wells, representing public high school teachers in Sault Ste. Marie and Algoma District. “This means 264 fewer course options for our students, fewer adults in buildings, fewer supports for students and much larger class sizes.”

While the CCPA report focuses on the affects education cuts will have on teachers, the ramifications reach beyond these numbers.

Education workers across the system, such as support staff, social workers, secretaries, psychologists and other educational personnel, will also be impacted. The Ford government cuts to education serve only to reduce the resources and supports available to students in the classroom.

Liz Tassone, representing local public school support staff members, says, “These losses in the classroom mean an increase in the number of students with special needs assigned to education support staff, reducing the amount of time they can spend with students who need them most and leading to more violent incidents in schools.”

With Ontario’s Financial Accountability Office (FAO) forecasting that Doug Ford’s cuts to education will result in over 10,000 fewer teachers in schools by 2023-24, there is a significant need for Ontarians to advocate for students and their learning environments.

Learn more about the issues and take action to support students at www.hereforstudents.ca.

OSSTF District 2 represents public school support staff and Early Childhood Educators, Catholic school supervisors, and public high school teachers and occasional teachers in Sault Ste. Marie and Algoma District.

The link to the interactive map is here.

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